Evaluating Writing Anxiety of Students in English Class in Afghanistan University: Empirical Research

Abstract

Writing anxiety as an obstacle negatively influences writing skills. It leads the learners to poor writing performance and hinders their writing. Therefore, this study investigated the level, types, and causes of writing anxiety among EFL undergraduates in English language and literature at Jawzjan University of Afghanistan. A total of 133 undergraduate students from the English department of an Afghanistan university was selected as the respondents. The study used a quantitative research method and the data collected using questionnaires of the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory and Cause of Writing Anxiety Inventory. Both descriptive and inferential statistics of SPSS were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that Afghan students experienced a moderate level of anxiety in English writing skills, while cognitive anxiety was found as the dominant type of writing anxiety. In addition, the inferential analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the level of writing anxiety across gender. Additionally, no statistically significant difference was found in the respondents level of anxiety based on their years of study. However, a statistically significant difference was found among students with different backgrounds of the English level (beginner, intermediate, high-intermediate, and advance). Moreover, the result showed that the leading dominant causes of writing anxiety among EFL learners are descending from the linguistic problem, time pressure, pressure for perfect work, and fear of teachers’ negative evaluation. Finally, it is believed that the findings of this study may provide several implications for practitioners in this field to be more aware of students writing anxiety in English class. It may help them be aware of the negative effects of anxiety and try to make the stress-free class as possible to improve students performance in writing skills.